A political demagogue – typically not bright – divides people by pushing the “prejudice” and “desire” buttons, advancing his divisive agenda by undermining or twisting established facts, logic, and institutions. This week Joe Biden, transparently deflecting, proved he is that guy.
Four examples of “Biden-the-Anti-Court Demagogue” jump off the page.
First, when the Supreme Court predictably ruled that a president is not allowed to initiate wild spending on his own – half a billion dollars in student loan forgiveness – without congressional action, pursuant to Article 1, Section 7 Clause 1 of the Constitution, Biden balked.
More than balked, he hammered the Supreme Courts’ majority for a non-controversial, textual reading and application of the law to facts. A man who barely got through law school, has not practiced in 60 years, and seems deft at violating federal law, declared to student borrowers the Court “got it wrong,” adding “this fight is not over.”
Like some federal sugar daddy, he declared he would find a way to give them all money – and then blamed Republicans, who have long argued constitutional language matters, for abiding the law.
Let’s get real. Tens of thousands of students, like my younger self, financed college and graduate school with loans. We borrowed, typically at a lower interest rate, to invest in ourselves, no expectation of being relieved of the obligation to repay what we borrowed. We knowingly assumed responsibility for debt.
Never mind this seminal fact. Biden-the-demagogue sees a chance to grab millions of votes in 2024, by promising he will battle “hypocritical” Republicans who subscribe to legal responsibility, loan repayment, and the Supreme Court. Accordingly, as if the High Court’s ruling matters little, he restarted his effort.
Second, earlier in the week, Biden addressed another anticipated High Court decision, one ending affirmative action, overt use of racial preferences to favor one race over another in college admissions.
Notably, the idea of racial quotas was knocked out decades ago, and persistence of racial bias in admissions through affirmative action, admissions not on merit but favoring one race over another, was always viewed as temporary, even by affirmative action’s founders.
Martin Luther King himself imagined a day when his progeny would no longer be treated differently from others based on skin color, but fairly measured on merit, or the “content of their character.”
Never mind, Biden ripped the High Court again, stirring prejudice and indulging racial-based desires for special treatment, this time seeking to curry favor with black voters against a “not … normal” court, presumably because the High Court applied the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause to education.
With textbook demagoguery, he slammed the High Court’s majority – which includes a brilliant black jurist – for their textual reading and overdue application of the 14th Amendment to racial preferences.
Ironically, universities directed to no longer discriminate against Asians and whites once used the same racial preferences or affirmative action to boost Protestants against Jews and Catholics, but never mind. Biden was all about trashing the Supreme Court for political advantage, and did so without hesitation.
Third, as if on cue, Biden then pushed the so-called Equality Act – one that would punish Christians for not complying with interests in the commercial and artistic space they oppose on religious grounds, specifically advancing sexual behaviors with which they disagree.
The High Court ruled owners of an artistic business cannot be compelled, against conscience or First Amendment “free exercise” rights, to advance what they oppose. Rather than assenting to middle ground, Biden bashed the Court.
So, after pandering to indebted students and minority populations interested in continuing preferential treatment on race (by definition, a zero sum game in college admissions), Biden then pandered to those who fall into sexual minorities, pitting them against those who, for religious reasons, disagree.
Finally, as if to underscore the surrealism of this divided moment in American history, the Biden administration had urged – in what seems an increasingly anti-religious era – that the Supreme Court offer only a limited review and minimal protection to employees whose religious convictions (i.e. not working on Sundays for Christians, or on religious holidays for all religions) conflicted with work.
The High Court took a different view, and unanimously protected a postal employee who was being required to work on Sundays, despite offering other accommodations. In effect, the First Amendment and Constitution trumped the non-religious or anti-religious interests of the government. Again, Biden lost – and on this one, just stayed silent. Notably, no defense of the employee’s rights got made.
Net-net, what does all this tell us – at a time when the Biden White House, political party, man and family are under intense scrutiny for anti-lawful acts, possibly federal bribery and RICO violations?
In short: Biden-the-demagogue knowingly panders, plays to “prejudices” and “desires” of his political base, shamelessly mischaracterizing and undermining the Court, and judicial review.
Good news? All this does not matter. The rulings are sound, thoughtful, enduring. Americans are increasingly sick of hearing Biden-the-demagogue. And soon enough, Mr. Biden may have other fish to fry…managing his own entanglements with the law, as demagogues often must.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
